Blood, Trust, and Cuffs
by CBrooke92
Summary: Turns out that the Rookie is quite the bleeder. The realization hits him a few moments after a metal pipe connects with the right side her ribs then head. Rated T for language. This is my first Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Fan Fiction, so please be nice. I really like the show and I enjoy the relationship between Ward and Skye. Anyways, Enjoy and Please Review!:-)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! This is my first Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Fan Fiction, so please be nice. I really like the show and I enjoy the relationship between Ward and Skye. Anyways, Enjoy and Please Review!:-)**

Turns out that the Rookie is quite the bleeder. The realization hits him a few moments after a metal pipe connects with the right side her ribs then head.

Skye goes down with little more than a gasped grunt, her eyes rolling back and her body giving just one violent shake before she loses consciousness.

"Don't move," a voice says from a few feet in front of him. The man raises a weapon at Ward. "Put your hands up."

His thoughts are everywhere, but he realizes that trying to do anything heroic will likely get them both killed.

Ward looks at their attacker, a big guy named Shawn Wilson – who apparently found some alien technology. It's some type of electrical gun, which is how he and Skye ended up here in the first place.

Right now, Shawn has one big advantage that's keeping Ward from taking him out – the woman lying on the ground, bright red blood spilling down her face.

"Drop it," Shawn says, glancing at the gun in Ward's hand.

Two things calm him (at least a little) right about now. The first is when Skye hit the ground, she hit it face-up. He can clearly see her chest rising and falling which means she's alive. The second is that he knows back up is on its way. Coulson would do anything in his power to make sure they're rescued.

There was one bad thing though. He and Skye left on a hunch (his hunch) to find Mr. Wilson and somewhere along the way, they ended up losing communication with the others. He's just hoping FitzSimmons can work their magic and find them.

"Drop it," Shawn says again. "Or I'll shoot the bitch. And let me tell you something, you should be grateful I didn't shoot her the first time."

"All right, all right," Ward answers. He lets his gun fall to the ground, the metal making a soft thumping noise as it collides with the concrete floor. He starts to stand, but Shawn turns the gun to face him.

"I didn't tell you to move!" he shouts.

Ward motions to Skye. "I just want to check on her. That's all."

"She's alive," he answers, his voice cold. "For now."

Ward tries to focus on staying controlled. "Please. I just don't want her to die. If she does, you're in a lot more trouble than you are now. You haven't killed anyone yet."

"Which means what?" Shawn tells him with a smirk.

"Which means we can still work this out," Ward tells him. "No lines have been crossed. S.H.I.E.L.D just wants the weapon. If you just hand it over, you can leave and forget all about this." He gestures himself and Skye. "We'll do the same."

"Uh huh," he laughs. "You people are all the same. Always trying to talk the crazy ones down. No action, just talk. So...that will be a no on the offer."

"Fine! Then please," Ward says again. "Let me check on her."

Shawn considers this for a moment, then shrugs his shoulders almost like he just doesn't care. "Fine. Go check her out. And while you're there, why don't you do me a favor and put these on."

"Those?"

He kicks forward some mid-evil like cuffs towards Ward. "Those. Put them on. One on you, one on her. They're pretty ancient, so there's no way to free yourself."

"You don't have to do this."

"And you're girlfriend here doesn't have to take another breath. Your choice." He wiggles the weapon around as if to make his point.

"Okay, okay."

Ward ignores the 'girlfriend' comment and moves slowly towards where Skye is. He kneels beside her, pressing his fingers to her neck. He feels her pulse and it reassures him immediately. She's lost more blood than he'd like, but she's alive.

"Cuffs," Shawn reminds him. "Now!"

He reaches out and takes one of Skye's hands. Her palm is clammy, but that's not unexpected. He puts one of the metal bracelets around her left wrist, and then moves to put the opposite one around his right wrist.

"Nope, cuff your left."

"What?"

"You think if she comes to you can escape. But left on left means that either you sit behind her or you face her. It makes walking together a real pain in the ass."

"This is ridiculous," Ward answers.

Shawn nods his head. "You know what else is ridiculous? How much blood can pour out of a human body. You know, I've never fire this. I'm getting interested in seeing what it does."

Ward sighs. Point taken. He thinks about what to do for a moment, then decides to go for the option that seems the most comfortable. He hates to admit it, but he's wanted to have Skye against him like is for a while now, but he just wishes the circumstances were different.

He gently lifts her up, slides his body behind her, and pulls her to his chest so that she's resting against it. He then reaches out and places the cuff around his own left wrist.

"That's a good Agent." Shawn grins. "See you in a bit." He turns and leaves the small warehouse, the door slams behind him.

"Awesome," Ward sighs. "Just awesome."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews!:-) Here's Chapter 2! Enjoy and Please Review!**

She comes to her senses around twenty minutes later, her body jerking to life with a sharp almost convulsive start.

And then she elbows him right in the stomach.

"Ow," he growls.

It takes her a moment (a longer than normal one thanks to the pain radiating through her skull) to realize who's holding her from behind. "Ward?" she mumbles, her chest becomes painful as she takes rapid breaths. "What happen? Where are we?"

"Easy," he says. "Just…take it easy. Slow, deep breaths. In...and out..."

"It hurts. My side, my...head..."

"I know it does."

He covers her hand with his, which is gripping her right side. "You probably have a few broken ribs," he tells her, "and you took a nasty blow to the head."

"How...How did we get here?"

Ward starts to explain.

The job seemed simple, check out a man named Shawn Wilson, who may or may not have acquired some type of alien technology. Such an assignment is typically a two-man job, and May would have gone with him, but he wanted Skye to come because she needed the experience (or so he tells himself).

They'd reached the warehouse, and check of the perimeter. They were about to call it in when Ward's spidey senses (as Skye calls it) started warning him about something not feeling quite right. It led them to a small room in the back. Turned out, his senses had been right.

Shawn Wilson had been inside. Unfortunately for them, he'd heard them coming.

Even more unfortunately for them, they hadn't seen him standing in the shadows.

Hence the blood still running down Skye's face, her broken ribs, and the fact that they're now handcuffed together.

"And that's what happened," he concludes.

"But...why are we like…this?"

"He made us go left-left. You were out cold. It was either like this or facing you."

"And that would have been bad because…"

He sighs again, and when he answers, his voice low. "I wanted to make sure...that...you were okay."

He's so earnest when he says this, that it almost completely takes her breath away. She's always thought of him as a robot, a man without emotion. But he's trying to be considerate, trying to look after her. Truth is, she hasn't had a lot of men in her life who have really tried to do that.

"Oh," she smiles. For a moment, she slumps against him, and he feels a spark of panic, wondering if she's lost consciousness again.

"Skye?" he asks.

"What?"

"You okay?"

"No! My head hurts, I can't breath without being in pain, and...and..." she cries, letting her tears fall freely.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," he reassures her. "The others will find us. And I promise...I'm going to keep you safe."

"This...sucks," Skye mutters.

"Yes, it does," he agrees. "But by now, Coulson and the other have realized something is wrong. They're probably on their way here now."

"And if they're not?"

"You've got to learn to trust the people you work with, Skye."

"I trust you," she blurts out, "I mean...I trust the team. Coulson, May, FitzSimmons, and you..."

She and Ward both clear their throats and blush. "So...What do we do now Robot?"

Ward chuckles at her attempts to be funny. Even though they're in a bad situation, she still tries to be her bubbly and goofy self. "Why don't we turn our energy towards getting the hell out of here."

"Have you noticed the situation we're in?"

"So we try something new and work together."

She wonders if his words sound as laughably ridiculous to him as they do to her. She's guessing from the intense look on his face that they don't.

"Okay. Great. You think you can stand up and walk?" he asks.

"You serious?"

"Yep. Now stand up. We'll do it together and we'll walk out of this place."

"And then what? How far do you think we're going to get like this?"

"As far as we need to. Now get up."

She considers arguing with him, but he's the Agent, and has been in these situations before, so she keeps quiet. She just hopes he's right.

It doesn't take very long to figure out that this time, unfortunately, he's not.

Getting to their feet together is difficult, but not impossible. It just takes them about four tries. It's the first step forward however, that does her in. She moves forward and suddenly, she's swaying, and just about fall.

"Ward," she whispers as she reaches back for him, her hand clutching at the loose fabric of his shirt as she tries to keep herself from collapsing.

"I got you. Hang on." Arms circling her, he pulls her back to the ground, and then back against his chest. "There we go. Just…breathe, okay? Breathe," he tells her, listening to her gasps for air with more than a little bit of concern.

She does just that, sucking in several deep breaths, both to calm and steady herself. The stale warehouse air does little to relieve the nausea sweeping through her, but she welcomes the intake of oxygen just the same.

They fall into silence for several minutes after that, neither doing much more than breathing. To his ears, hers is a bit labored. Enough so that after about ten minutes of this, he reaches around her with his right hand and touches the pulse point on her left wrist. "You doing okay, Skye?" he asks, worry peppering his voice.

"Don't...feel...to...good," she admits. Her eyes closed and voice slurred.

"I bet. He hit you pretty good."

Ward tears the bottom of his shirt and tries to wipe the blood off her head and cheek.

Her eyes open at this, and despite the pain and discomfort from the action, she tilts her head back, looking up at him, "You're worried."

"Head injuries are nasty business."

"I'm fine, Ward."

"Just keep telling me that."

"Grant, I'm fine."

He considers arguing with her, but quickly decides not to. It doesn't really matter who's correct right now. They're in the situation they're in, cuffed together until backup arrives. Until then, there's not a whole hell of a lot that they can do about it. "Okay," he tells her. "But you'll have to forgive me if I check on you every now and again."

"As long as you be gentle," she jokes.

"I'll do my best," he assures her.

She nods at that, then rolls her head and buries it into his neck. He tries really hard to controls himself when he feels her breath.

"Skye," Ward says.

"Yeah..."

"Just checking."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Fantastic."

He chuckles at that.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What so funny _Agent_ Ward?"

"It's just…as long as you're talking like that, I know you're okay."

"Whatever," she rolls her eyes. "Just, stop talking."

"Only for a few minutes."

Her only response to that is decidedly unladylike grunt of annoyance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again for the reviews! You guys are great. Just a little FYI, Ward's character in this chapter was really hard to write. We don't really know much about him since the show just started, but his character in here might be a little...off? I don't know, I'll let you guys decides. Anyway, I hope you still Enjoy and Please Review!:-)**

They've been in this warehouse for well over three hours now. Coulson and the others surely know that something has gone wrong, which is pretty damned important. Because right about now, Skye's having a hell of a time staying awake. He can see her struggling, fighting like hell to keep her eyes open. His checks on her have become more frequent, but she's stopped protesting them, and that worries him more than he'd care to admit.

Why **_does_** he care so much?

Because she's a colleague, he tells himself. It's his job to cover her back and to do everything he can to make sure she's okay.

But it's more than that, he realizes with a bit of surprise. He actually cares about her. Maybe it's because they're both outcasts when put into the real world. He's an asocial man who's great at his job but not so great at getting along with others, and she's always been an orphan, all alone and left to defend herself.

_That has to be it, _he tells himself.

"Hey Skye?" Ward asks.

It takes her a few moments this time to respond, and when she does, she sounds half-asleep, like she's rapidly losing the battle to remain conscious.

"Y...Yeah."

"Got a question for you?"

"Briefs!"

"Excuse me?"

"I...like my...men in briefs, but boxers are nice. They just...hide too much."

"Okay," he chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind."

She smiles at that, and Ward wonders just how goofy she is right about now. There are no drugs involved, but clearly her brain isn't working quite right.

"Are you...gunna ask your...question!"

"I'm not sure I want to hear the answer."

"Okay," she sighs. "Then let me sleep."

"No! Hey, come on Skye. Stay awake." He puts his hand on her cheek, and give it a couple light slaps.

She growls at first, then finds herself leaning into his touch. And for a few precious minutes, they stay like that. His cuffed arm around her waist and his right hand stroking her cheek.

But this blissful moment comes to an end when Skye jerks forward, her back arched. She grips the sides of his pants as a surge of pain cracks through her skull.

Thankfully, Ward was able to calm her down and she started to relax. Her body slumps back against his. He wishes he could be her hero, her knight in shining armor, and take the pain away. But he can't. So instead, he decides to distract her.

"You want to know a secret?"

She nods.

"I've been having these feelings...about this girl...and I don't really know what to do."

She opens her eyes and again leans back so that she can look at him. "You...have feelings? Oh my god, alert the media! The robot has feelings!"

Ward rolls his eyes. At least she's starting to sound like her old self.

"I'm serious. What do I do?"

Skye, clearly clueless, asks, "Well, what's she like?"

Ward looks up. "She's this amazing women, who's a big kid at heart, but is also warm, a little edgy, and witty. She's obssesed with superheros and loves to show them to the world by posting these videos on the web." He takes a breath and looks down at Skye. "She has long brown hair and is very beautiful. I cared for her the moment we met."

Before she can even open her mouth to reply, the door to the warehouse opens and Shawn Wilson enters, carrying the alien weapon in his hands.

"I see your girlfriend's awake," he calls out with a grin.

Skye looks up at him and despite the pain and the grogginess, manages to spit out, "You're going to pay for this!"

"Oh, I like her," Shawn says to Ward, his grin turning into a sneer. "Maybe before I kill you two, she and I should play."

Ward was about to tell Shawn, that if he even tries to touch Skye, it'll be the last thing he ever does, but the fiery brunet replies first, her voice a growled warning, "You want to play? Take off the cuffs and we'll play. I wanna see Agent Ward beat you down til there's nothing left."

Ward just smiles.

"I bet you do. Unfortunately, I got a buddy on his way to pick me up and get me the hell out of here. I've got buyers that will pay a pretty penny for this thing." He raises the weapon. "By the time you two are found in the morning, we'll be long gone."

"They'll know it was you," Ward tells him.

"Yeah, probably, but they'll be so busy trying to figure out what happened to the two of you, it'll take them awhile to get that I'm nowhere around." He gestures over towards a can of gasoline sitting against the wall.

"You don't want to do this," Ward insists once again, a hint of panic in his tone.

"Oh, yes, I do. Not every day you get to say you killed two S.H.I.E.L.D Agents."

"Not today, either," a voice rumbles from behind Shawn. And then, just before the gunfire begins, the voice, the one belonging to Agent Coulson, orders, "Ward, get her down. Now."

But he was already in motion, acting on instinct. He reaches his arms around Skye, holds her tight against his chest, and then rolls both of them away from the line of fire, putting his back to the gunfire.

He tucks her as tight as he can under him, his chin rested atop her hair. It's amazing to him just how small and vulnerable she feels against him. This makes him want to protect her even more. And so he does, tightening his hold around her.

The gunfire only lasts a few seconds, and then there's the sound of boots walking across the floor of the warehouse.

"Agent Ward," he hears just before a hand settles on his shoulder. "You two all right?"

"I'm fine, Coulson," Ward answers, seeing Agent May grabbing the device in the background. He rolls himself and Skye back over. He's not at all surprised to find that she's finally lost consciousness, her body limp in his arms. "But she's not."

He holds her close to his chest and lifts up their cuffed together hands and motions to Skye. "She need to get to a hospital."

"Don't worry," Coulson tells him, his voice almost ridiculously calm considering the situation. "Everything is going to be just fine."


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the last and final Chapter!:( Sorry it took awhile to update, I've been working on another Skye/Ward Fan Fiction. Again, sorry it's late and sorry it's not long. I hoped you'd all Enjoyed and Please Review!:-)**

Since being rescued, Ward insisted that Skye get treated on the bus. At first, he wanted to go to a hospital. But after what they've been through, he figured being on the plane was the safest place for Skye.

"How is she?" he asked FitzSimmons as they exited her room.

"She took a good hard hit to the head, but I think she's going to be just fine." Simmons said with a smile.

"Is she awake?" Ward asks.

"Yes, but she needs to rest." Fitz reminded him.

"Is she lucid?"

"Not so much, but she is conscious."

"Do you mind if I...?" Ward asks, pointing to her room.

"Go ahead." Coulson said from behind.

Ward nods in gratitude. He takes a deep breath, wondering what he's doing. Why is it so important to see for himself that she's all right? He enters her room and momentarily is taken aback by what he sees. She's lying on her bed wearing lose fitting clothes, an IV tube going into her arm, and a white bandage covering the wound on her head. She looks pale and not at all like the energetic Skye he's used to.

"Gr...Grant..." she mumbles, her hazy eyes opening up and gazing right at him. "Figured that...you had...enough of me for one...day."

"I have." he admits.

"Then don't...cuff us together next...time," she says lazily.

He considers reminding her that he'd had no choice, but instead, he chooses to ask, "Do you...remember...anything?"

She felt tears running down her cheeks. "Did you mean what you said?"

"Ya, I did." He wiped her tears with his thumb. "Look, I know I'm not the...easiest...guy to be around, and this job can take a toll, but maybe...maybe we can give this a shot."

"I'd like that." She grins widely.

"Great...I'm mean...that's great. I'll let you sleep then," he tells her after a long moment, moving towards the door.

"Wait!" Skye stops him. "Can you, maybe...stay...for a while?"

He nods.

Helping her move over, Ward slides on the bed and tested his limit by putting an arm around her.

"You better be..." she says before falling asleep.

"...gentle..." he finished. "I'll do my best."


End file.
